Veteran rights activist Cyprian Nyamwamu Mtumishi has warned Kenyans that the country is moving towards an era of shrinking freedoms.
He says the disturbing scenes playing out in neighbouring Uganda are not an isolated incident but a preview of “where Kenya is headed in a few months” if citizens fail to defend constitutional liberties.
His warning follows the arrest of Uganda’s veteran opposition figure Dr Miria Matembe, 73, who appeared in court frail and barely able to walk after days in detention following her criticism of President Yoweri Museveni’s government.
Rights groups say security officers raided her home before holding her incommunicado.
“This is where Kenya is headed,” Nyamwamu cautioned. “Never say that we did not tell you.”
To him, Matembe’s painful court appearance was more than the suffering of one elderly politician. It was another crack in the democratic foundations of a country where, he argues, dissent is steadily being squeezed.
NTV Uganda Shutdown
The warning carried more weight after the military’s top general Muhoozi Kainerugaba ordered the shutting down of NTV Uganda, the Daily Monitor and other Nation Media Group outlets, saying he did not believe in a free press.
The decision prompted immediate backlash from organisations advocating for media freedom and human rights.
Nyamwamu argues Kenya should resist the temptation to dismiss Uganda’s troubles as someone else’s crisis. “Freedom is rarely stolen in one day,” he says. “It disappears piece by piece.”
His concerns come against the backdrop of Kenya’s own unsettling trail of reported abductions, enforced disappearances and killings involving activists and government critics, including the reported abduction of activist Lichuma, incidents that have intensified public anxiety over civil liberties.
The government continues to reject claims of state involvement.
Dr Miria Matembe. Photo/courtesy
On Tuesday, Principal Secretary for Internal Security Raymond Omollo insisted security agencies were not behind the abductions and said investigations were ongoing.
READ ALSO: Davis Lichuma: Missing Activist Discovered Fighting for His Life
Nyamwamu believes the warning signs are already flashing across East Africa.
He says Uganda has just moved a little further down a road that begins quietly, with frightened critics, terrified newsrooms and citizens who slowly learn that what was exceptional yesterday is normal today.
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